Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop

Rating:
Summary: 99% Waste of Time
Review: Before reading Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop by Gwen Lute, I had read the following books on the subject:
- 5 stars: Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (Katrin Eismann).
Exceptional book; one of the best PS books I've read on any topic. Check the reviews.
- 3.5 stars: Photoshop Retouching Handbook (Carol Braverman). Pretty good.
- 1.5 stars: Retouching Old Photographs - Photoshop Methods and Solutions (Michael Kiteley). Serious problems. See my review under that title.

In retrospect I should have quit while I was ahead.

Compared with the offerings above, the Lute book is a sham (and a shame). Poorly written, frequently incomplete explanations, very little useful detail, no accompanying CD or web-site for example images, lots of "white border" per page to make it appear "thicker."

I wouldn't recommend it for beginning, intermediate nor advanced PS users. I literally sold this book on the second hand market two days after receiving it.

I noticed there's an updated version of this book on the horizon (projected availablity: 2nd half of 2002). At this point I would not even remotely entertain the thought of acquiring it unless I read many, many stellar reviews proclaiming a complete rewrite.

Most of the other reviews for this book are right on. Don't waste your hard earned $ on this one regardless of your PS skill level.

You may be thinking, "So why didn't YOU pay attention to the other reviews before buying this book?" Fair question...

I'm a PS knowledge junkie... I LOVE to read about and learn new Photoshop techniques. Though I read the not-so-flattering-reviews before taking the plunge (like you are doing right now), I *hoped* they were too harsh. I *hoped* I'd find a few golden nuggets that would be useful to me. Bottom line: It was about the most useless PS book I've ever read (my personal library consists of over 30 PS books).

My advice: If you're interested in this topic, give serious consideration to the first book listed above and some consideration to the second. If you pass on the last one and this offering, you'll be a much happier camper.

Rating:
Summary: poorly structured, no tutorial files
Review: Do yourself a favor, spend your money on a really good book such as Katrin Eismann's "Photoshop restoration and retouching" instead of buying this one. I read both; I enjoyed the Eismann's book and felt that I learned next to nothing reading the Lute's book. I think, there are two major reasons why I felt this way:

1. This is yet another step-by-step tutorial without images to work with. There is no CD and no downloadable files. Since one has to have images quite similar to those in the book (and due to the nature of the tasks discussed in the book these images may be hard to find) in order to reproduce the tutorials, I found that the only way how I could learn anything at all was is to play the steps of image processing in imagination. I discovered a couple of useful tricks while doing it, but certainly the concept "learning by doing" does not work well when the "doing" part is stripped off. The most ridiculous thing in the book is that the author sometimes suggests something like "click anywhere in the blue background". Come on, this book is published in black and white, there are no tutorial images, what are you talking about?!

2. The approach is based on tools, not on problems. Katrin Eismann's book starts with identification of what is wrong with the image - e.g., its too light, or its color balance is wrong, or it has scratches, etc. - and then suggests solution to each particular problem. Each section in Eismann's book is about a particular problem in the image, and a variety of ways how to solve this problem. Gwen Lute's book starts from the tools and techniques; each section is dedicated to a certain group of tools, and it is shown how they can be used. For instance, there is a cection on layers and masks, another section on filters, etc. As practical as this approach is, it does not give you a systematic knowledge how to identify problems in a photograph, and how to solve them. The best you get from this approach - a review of the photoshop tools. You are not getting any better in retouching, though!

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful to me
Review: I recently gave a 1-star review to this book, but some sort of guilt hit me and I decided to look through the book again to see if I could find some way to up my rating. Well, the author could try putting in a CD with pictures that are included in the book so the buyer could practice the lessons; and a different layout that would be more pleasing to the eyes wouldn't hurt either.

So does this book have some merit? Yes. Is it the best book on Photoshop retouching? No.

This book is going to have trouble competing when so many other books include hands-on tutorials via a CD. The positive behind this book is it's not lengthy, and how I hate buying a book the thickness of the Yellow Pages.

So who would buy this book? Someone who is heavily into using Photoshop and has purchased just about every book there is on Photoshop.

It's not the best, but it's not the worse.

Rating:
Summary: A high price book not live up to expectation
Review: I was looking for a book in photo retouching with Photoshop and borrowed this book from a local library. The back cover promised "step-by-step, fully illustrated instructions ..." but when I went over the book, I was disappointed. For a price ......, this book had no sample files from either CD-Rom or downloadable from the internet so you could practice the techniques. The pictures were impressive enough, but without the sample files it just like you read a cook book and expected to become an expert in cooking. Well, at least with cooking you could buy the ingredients elsewhere. So there was no way you can prove the author right or wrong or if the techniques worked! Try Photoshop Artistry, they had before and after files which you can practice!

Also, the instructions were not "step-by-step" as promised. For example, page 23 (retouch wedding picture), step 7 said "clean up the final image using various tools and methods for fine turning (i.e. the rubber stamp tool, the eraser tool, the lasso tool). You can see the image below"

This is not "step-by-step" how could I clean up an image using various tools if I was trying to follow the sample? What various tools? Is the rubber stamp tool first and then the eraser tool? This is vague at it best. I looked at the fimal impressive image and still couldn't quite get how the author arrive there.

Rating:
Summary: A high price book not live up to expectation
Review: I was somewhat as disappointed as Martin with this book. My expectation was a book with greater depth. However, I do think that an entry level Photoshop user would find it, as Marilyn did, a useful book and that's who I would recommend it to.

Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Book Helped Me immensly.
Review: I've read the other reviews and quiet frankly I feel that they are not only unfair, but seem a bit one sided. Most of the ones that gave the first edition a bad rating and then blasted the book don't even have the decency to try the second edition which was a complete re-write and much better than the first edition.
As I understand it Adobe has asked Mrs. Lute to provide an insert for the next version of Photoshop Express. Do you think Adobe would ask Mrs. lute if she was as bad as the lame reviews seen here?
I really enjoyed the book, and it helped me figure out a big problem with Layers and Masking, which has helped to quadruple my referrals.
The big question here is why has Amazon failed to have a different set of reviews for the second edition? I don't feel that Amazon is providing proper customer service by showing reviews for the wrong book.
I'm a professional photographer specializing in Virtual Tours for Real Estate, Bed and Breakfast Inns, Hotels, and Private Clubs. And Gwen Lute's second edition of Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop was one of the best Photoshop books I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Difference of opinion
Review: Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop

By Gwen Lute Amherst Media, Inc.

I noticed one negative review of this book and am surprised. I had quite a different experience reading Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop. This book is very well written. It makes Adobe Photoshop easy for even a beginner like me. I followed the directions for a couple of the tasks explained in this book and had no problem getting the results I wanted. Chapters cover topics from "a Historical Perspective" of photo retouching to marketing your work. Lute explains computer terms, such as plug-ins, hard drives, RAM, and external hard drives. Suggestions for buying a computer are offered along with what hardware and software may be best for your purposes. Capturing the digital image is discussed as are scanning techniques. Then the fun begins--and I do mean fun. Just learning Adobe Photoshop myself, I know how frustrating it is to follow directions when working in Photoshop. After working for hours, getting the effects wanted in your photograph seems impossible. Not a problem with Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop. Each step is clearly explained and illustrated. It is impossible to get lost or forget a step if you follow the script. For instance, chapter three ("Restoring an Image") talks about "Using a Layer as a Mask." Accompanying the text for each project are charts, photographs and the list of Adobe Photoshop tools as they will be seen on your screen is illustrated. The first section tells the reader how to remove an unwanted object from a picture. Fourteen easy-to-follow steps take you through the process. Several more projects are discussed and illustrated and each of the twelve chapters, subjects and projects are just as thoroughly explained and illustrated. Author and photographer Gwen Lute is a photo retoucher with over thirty-years of professional experience. Along with these talents, she lectures to professional photographers on traditional and digital retouching methods. Because I actually worked on my own projects following the instructions in this book, I can say without reservation this is a helpful and valuable book.

Rating:
Summary: Difference of opinion
Review: Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop

By Gwen Lute Amherst Media, Inc.

I noticed one negative review of this book and am surprised. I had quite a different experience reading Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop. This book is very well written. It makes Adobe Photoshop easy for even a beginner like me. I followed the directions for a couple of the tasks explained in this book and had no problem getting the results I wanted. Chapters cover topics from "a Historical Perspective" of photo retouching to marketing your work. Lute explains computer terms, such as plug-ins, hard drives, RAM, and external hard drives. Suggestions for buying a computer are offered along with what hardware and software may be best for your purposes. Capturing the digital image is discussed as are scanning techniques. Then the fun begins--and I do mean fun. Just learning Adobe Photoshop myself, I know how frustrating it is to follow directions when working in Photoshop. After working for hours, getting the effects wanted in your photograph seems impossible. Not a problem with Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop. Each step is clearly explained and illustrated. It is impossible to get lost or forget a step if you follow the script. For instance, chapter three ("Restoring an Image") talks about "Using a Layer as a Mask." Accompanying the text for each project are charts, photographs and the list of Adobe Photoshop tools as they will be seen on your screen is illustrated. The first section tells the reader how to remove an unwanted object from a picture. Fourteen easy-to-follow steps take you through the process. Several more projects are discussed and illustrated and each of the twelve chapters, subjects and projects are just as thoroughly explained and illustrated. Author and photographer Gwen Lute is a photo retoucher with over thirty-years of professional experience. Along with these talents, she lectures to professional photographers on traditional and digital retouching methods. Because I actually worked on my own projects following the instructions in this book, I can say without reservation this is a helpful and valuable book.

Rating:
Summary: Good supplemental book
Review: The best word to describe this book is junk. It's been on my shelf for close to a year, and I've debated about dumping it in the trash or leaving it on the shelf to protect another book from bending. Now what's wrong with this book, you might be asking yourself? Well, you can't work on any of the projects included in the book because the book doesn't come with a CD of tutorials. Second, some of the directions are poorly written. Third, this book stinks. If you'd like a great book for novice or pro, buy books written by Gary David Bouton, the author of "Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Fundamentals." I bought his Photoshop 5 book, and he included a CD with pictures so you could work along on the projects. I learned a lot from his previous book, so I stick with whatever version he comes out with.

So what can I say about this poop book that hasn't already been said by the other reviews I noticed before I wrote this one? Let's see...I covered stink...uh, junk...and, oh yeah! It's not worth the ink it cost to print it.